The SEO experts They know that they can use many different techniques to achieve the same goal: position higher in Google and other search engines. But not all techniques are equally valid: some of them are expressly prohibited by search engines and can get you into trouble if you use them. Its about black hat SEO.
What is black hat SEO?
We call “black hat SEO” to web positioning techniques that seek to achieve quick results without complying with Google standards. They are generally based on trick search engines in some way to climb positions easily.
Although black hat SEO can sometimes get some immediate results, it is never worth it in the long run, since if the search engine detects any attempt to cheat the penalties are very severe. Therefore, we usually end up generating the opposite effect to the desired one.
Furthermore, the black hat SEO It presents another problem, and that is that it does not provide any value to end users. Therefore, although it may be effective in the short term, it ends up being detrimental to a company’s marketing objectives. It is always better to go step by step and build solid foundations on which to base your campaigns.
The most popular black hat SEO techniques
- Keyword stuffing. It consists of entering a keyword over and over again on our website so that the search engine positions us for it. According to Google standards, the keyword must always respond to user needs and provide value. Repeating it over and over without rhyme or reason affects the quality of the content and the user experience.
- Cloaking. One of the most important rules of ethical SEO is that websites must be the same for users and crawlers. In the case of cloaking, the trap consists of generating a website that is super optimized for search engines, but which would be unreadable for a human being, and “covering” it with another website directed at users but which is not traceable in search engines.
- Spinning. Spinning is based on “hacking” the creation of content using programs that modify a single article to generate several different texts, for example, through the use of synonyms. Logically, this practice does not provide any value to the reader, and Google’s algorithms are increasingly detecting it faster and more frequently.
- Hidden text. This black hat SEO practice is very old and violates the regulations of showing the same content to users and crawlers. It involves hiding texts that repeat the keyword over and over again, for example, by putting the text in the same color as the background or reducing the size.
- Buying and selling links. One of the most important factors in the positioning of a website are inbound links, but these must be obtained organically. Therefore, buying and selling inbound links is considered a black hat SEO technique and is subject to penalty.
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